MAZEL TOV!

Goldberg 60th
M

orton and Joanne
(Sparr) Goldberg live
in West Bloomfield.
They were married on July
16, 1961, at Book Cadillac
Hotel in Detroit. Morton and
Joanne are the loving parents
of Helene Goldberg and Lorey
Sparr; adoring grandparents
of Mallory (Alex) Wolf, Jordan
Sommerfeld, Zach and Parker
Nessel. They are very excited
to be new great-grandparents
to Asher James Wolf.

Cohen 100th
G

loria Cohen of West
Bloomfield will cele-
brate her 100th birthday
on July 16, 2021, with a party
in her honor. She will be with
her children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, great-
great-grandchild and friends.

HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the
Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings
with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18
each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs
or for special birthdays starting at the 90th.
For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello
at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for
information or for a mailed or emailed copy of guidelines.

Teachers As Heroes
T

his week’s parshah,
is the first of the last
book of the Torah.
Thirty-seven days before his
passing, Moses begins his
repetition of the Torah to the
assembled Israelites,
reviewing the events
that occurred and the
laws given during their
journey from Egypt to
Sinai to Eretz Yisrael.
Deuteronomy contains
addresses from Moses
to the people covering
a history, the past set
of prophecies, warn-
ings about the future,
laws, narratives, a song
and a set of blessings.
Together they consti-
tute the most com-
prehensive, profound vision of
what it is to be a Holy People,
dedicated to God.
Moses knew he would not
enter the land along with the
Israelites due to the punishment
given to him by God in Parshat
Chukat weeks ago. Nevertheless,
Moses understood that he could
still be with them intellectually
and emotionally if he gave them
the teachings to take with them.
In his commentary on
Parshah D’varim in 2019/5779,
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
commented that it was at this
moment that Moses became the
pioneer of perhaps the single
greatest contribution of Judaism
to the concept of leadership: the
idea of the teacher as hero.
Heroes are people who
demonstrate courage in the field
of battle. What Moses knew
was that the most important
battles are not military; they are
spiritual, moral and cultural.
Since March 2020, our world
has engaged in a single battle
against COVID-19 and a new

group of individuals emerged
as heroes. Three-thousand
years after Moses addressed the
Israelites, we have seen school
administrators, teachers, and
staff were frontline heroes this
past year.
As the head of school of
Hillel Day School, I wit-
nessed our leadership, facul-
ty and staff come to school
each day, putting their own
health at risk, to provide for
the academic, emotional,
social and spiritual growth
of students. The same was
true for educators at our
other Jewish day schools in
Metro Detroit. Educators
showed immense courage,
faith, joy and conviction.
Teachers adapted; they
learned new technologies; they
learned how to engage students
across the screen; they learned
how to reach an entire class-
room of students while wearing
a mask. In a year when millions
of children were alone in their
bedrooms or houses learning
remotely, Jewish day school
educators in Metro Detroit
put the needs of their students
before their own. That is the
true essence of a hero.
Like Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses
our teacher) did for the Israelites
before they crossed into the
Promised Land, teachers impart
knowledge, wisdom, life lessons
and love to their students. As we
emerge from the pandemic, let
us always remember that teach-
ers shape society, handing on
the legacy of the past to those
who build the future. This has
sustained Judaism for longer
than any other civilization.

Dr. Darin Katz is head of school at

Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit

in Farmington Hills.

Dr. Darin
Katz

Parshat

D’varim:

Deuteronomy

1:1-3:22;

Isaiah 1;1-29.

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

34 | JULY 15 • 2021